Off-vehicle-mounted door actuating mechanism

ABSTRACT

TRACKWAY-MOUNTED RAILROAD HOPPER CAR DOOR ACTUATING MECHANISM INCLUDING A PAIR OF LONGITUDINALLY SPACED CAM TRACK STRUCTURES, SAID FIRST CAM TRACK STRUCTURE IN THE DOOR OPENING DIRECTION OF THE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM PRESENTING TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING DRIVE LEVER ENGAGING DOOR OPENING CAM SURFACES, SAID SECOND CAM TRACK STRUCTURE IN THE DOOR OPENING DIRECTION OF THE DOOR OPERATING MECHA NISM PRESENTING A FINAL OPENING TRANSVERSE CAM SURFACE FOR FINAL OPENING OF THE HOPPER DOORS AND A PIVOTAL CAM TRACK GATE FOR PASSAGE OF THE DRIVE LEVER THERETHROUGH IN THE OPENING MOVING DIRECTION OF THE RAILROAD CAR, SAID SECOND CAM TRACK STRUCTURE IN THE DOOR CLOSING DIRECTION OF THE HOPPER CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM PRESENTING AN INITIAL CAM SURFACE FOR CLOSING THE VEHICLE DOORS AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE DRIVE LEVER IN THE CLOSING MOVING DIRECTION OF THE CAR, SAID FIRST CAM TRACK STRUCTURE HAVING AN INTERMEDIATE DOOR CLOSING CAM SURFACE AND PIVOTAL CAM MEANS IN THE DOOR CLOSING DIRECTION OF THE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM PRESENTING SURFACE MEANS FOR FINAL CLOSING OF THE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM AND A PIVOTAL CAM TRACK GATE FOOR PASSING OF THE DRIVE LEVER THERETHROUGH IN THE CAR DOOR CLOSING DIRECTION.

Sept. 20, 1971 J. J. SCHULLER 3,606,041

QFF-VEHICLE-HOUNTED DOOR ACTUATING MECHANISI Filed July 2, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 nvvsuron HULLER ATT'Y Sept. 20, 1971 J. J. SCHULLER 3,605,041

OFF-VEHICLE-IIOUNTED noon ACTUA'I'ING MECHANISM Filed July 2, 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvewmn JAMES J. SOHULLER ATT'Y.

Sept. 20, 1971 J. J. SCHULLER 3,606,041

OFF'VEHICLE'MOUNTED DOOR ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed July 2. 1969 4 Sheets-Sheet s mvaw'ron JAMES J SCHULLER BYWGX W ATT Y.

Sept. 20, 1971 HHHHIIH HIM.

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J. J. SCHULLER OFF-VEHICLE-MOUNTED DOOR ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed July 2, 1969 I SMHFR Sheets-Sheet 4 J MW" CLOSING IN VEN TOR ATT'Y.

United States Patent Olfice 3,606,041 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 US. Cl. 214-63 17 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Trackway-mounted railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism including a pair of longitudinally spaced cam track structures, said first cam track structure in the door opening direction of the door operating mechanism presenting transversely extending drive lever engaging door opening cam surfaces, said second cam track structure in the door opening direction of the door operating mechanism presenting a final opening transverse cam surface for final opening of the hopper doors and a pivotal cam track gate for passage of the drive lever therethrough in the opening moving direction of the railroad car, said second cam track structure in the door closing direction of the hopper car door operating mechanism presenting an initial cam surface for closing the vehicle doors and engageable with the drive lever in the closing moving direction of the car, said first cam track structure having an intermediate door closing cam surface and pivotal cam means in the door closing direction of the door operating mechanism presenting surface means for final closing of the door operating mechanism and a pivotal cam track gate for passage of the drive lever therethrough in the car door closing direction.

SUMMARY This invention relates to devices for opening and closing discharge or hopper doors of a vehicle and more particularly relates to an off-vehicle-mounted hopper door actuating mechanism for acting upon vehicle-mounted door opening and closing mechanism.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to provide for a novel stationary hopper door opening and closing device engageable with a vehicle-mounted hopper door opening and closing mechanism as the vehicle passes by the stationary hopper door opening and closing device.

Another object of this invention is to provide for a track-mounted railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism for engagement with the hopper door operating mechanism on the railroad car as the car passes by the track-mounted mechanism in one direction to open the doors and in the opposite direction to close the doors.

A further object of this invention is to provide for a trackway-mounted railroad hoper car door actuating mechanism including a pair of longitudinally spaced cam track structures which in one direction of car movement operate to open the hopper doors and in the other direction of travel close the car door.

Still another object of this invention is to provide for a first hopper door opening and closing cam track and a second longitudinally spaced hopper door opening and closing cam track structure whereby the first cam structure in one direction of vehicle movement cooperates with the second cam track structure to open the vehicle doors and to provide a gate for passage of the car-mounted structure therethrough and whereby in the opposite direction provides for cam closing surfaces and a gate for letting the car-mounted door operating mechanism pass thereby.

These and other objects will become more apparent by reference to the following description, attached drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a railroad hopper car;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a ground-mounted cam structure for opening and closing the doors of a hopper car;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the railroad hopper car showing the car-mounted hopper door operating mechanism with the hopper doors closed.

FIG. 4 is a transverse partial section of the car-mounted hopper door operating mechanism on the railroad car with the hopper doors open;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the cam structure of FIG. 2 with parts omitted and illustrating the door opening operation; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view similar to FIG. 8 with parts omitted and illustrating the door closing operation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawings, there is shown a railroad hopper car 2, as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 having sides 4, ends 6, and side sills 7, a center sill 8 and door operating supporting structure 10 carrying door operating mechanism 16 for operating the doors 14 of the car hoppers 12. The car 2 is movably supported on the trucks 18 and rides over the car wheel-engaging rails 20. The door operating mechanism 16 is of the type disclosed in the allowed copending patent application Ser. No. 598,440 filed on Dec. 1, 1966 by William R. Shaver, now US. Pat. No. 3,459,317 issued Aug. 5, 1969, and herein incorporated by reference. The door operating mechanism 16 includes door operating arms 22 connecting with the doors 14 through door rods 19 and with the crank structure 24, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, having an upper crank 21, an intermediate crank 23 and a lower crank 25, the crank structure 24 being engaged with the over-center crank stop 27 when the vehicle doors and the door operating mechanism are in the closed door position. Each crank structure 24 is connected by transfer links 26, one crank structure 24 fixedly supporting a drive lever 28 having cam follower rollers 29.

The respective cam follower roller 29 of the drive lever 28 is positioned underneath the car and adapted for engagement with the drive lever engaging cam track means 30, as seen in FIGS. 2, 4, 8 and 9, for operating the door mechanism. The cam track means 30 includes the cam track support structure 32 having longitudinal beams of side members 34 and 36 connected by cross members 38, 40. The cam track means 30 includes a pair of first and second cam track units 50 and 52, as seen in FIGS. 2, 8 and 9. The first cam track unit or initial opening and final closing cam track unit is supported by support structure 46 and uprights 48. The second cam track unit or initial closing and final opening cam track unit is supported by upright structures 44 and gussets 42.

The first or entrant door opening cam track unit 50 comprises a door opening entrant cam section or pivotal closing gate section 54. The cam section '54 has a transversely extending vertical surface or door opening initiating cam surface 56 on one side for engagement with the drive lever when the car is moving in the door opening direction and has a vertical surface or gate closing surface 58 opposite surface 56 adapted for movement to an open position by the drive lever when the car is moving in the hopper door closing direction. The cam section 54 is maintained in a fixed position as the drive lever 28 engages it when the car is moving in the hopper door opening direction by the engagement of the gate closing surface 58 with the stop 60 mounted on the side member 34. The cam section 54 has a closing gate pivot end or hinge 62 pivotal about pivot or hinge pin 64 to swing away from the stop 60 in the door closing direction of the car as its drive lever 28 engages the gate surface 58. The first cam track unit is further provided with a second cam element or section 66 at the opening entrant end of the cam track support structure 32. The cam element 66 has a second door opening cam surface 67 lying in a common plane with the door opening initiating cam surface 56 and has a fixed hinge couplable with the hinge 62 and receives pivot pin 64. The pivot pin 64 has a spring 57 thereabout and a spring seat 61. The spring 57 has an upper spring arm 63 engaging with the spring stop on the gate section 54 and a lower spring arm 63a engaging with the spring stop 65a to cause the spring to bias the gate 54 against the stop 60, as seen in FIG. 2. The cam idle section 68 extends in a longitudinal direction and is fixedly attached to the second cam element 66 and is provided with an idle surface 69 which is engaged by the respective roller of the drive lever 28 but the drive lever is not rotated by the surface 69. Adjacent to and attached with the idle section 68 is support structure 70 which is not engaged by the follower rollers of the drive lever. The support structure 70 has fixedly attached thereto the fixed closing cam element 72 having connected intermediate closing cam surfaces 71 and 73 at an obtuse angle to one another. These intermediate initial and final surfaces 71 and 73 are engaged by the respective roller of the drive lever 28 when the car is moving in the door closing direction. As seen in FIGS. 2, 5 and 7, a pivotal final closing cam element 74 is provided with entrant final closing cam surface 75 transverse to car closing direction travel and longitudinally extending or exit final closing cam surface 76. The pivotal final closing cam element 74 is provided with pivot arms 78 each having an open slot 78a for receiving pivotal lever 86. The arms 78 pivot about pivot pin 80 mounted on pivot pin support plate 82- attached to the fixed cam section 72, as seen in FIGS. 2, 7, 8 and 9.

As seen in FIGS. 2, 5 and 7, the pivotal lever 86 is pivotally connected to the closing cam spring on biasing assembly 84 which comprises a cylinder 83 containing a spring 8 5 urging against a piston or plunger 87. The cylinder 83 is provided with a cylinder pivot arm 83a pivotally connected to side member pivot support 36a of the side member 36 by pivot pin 83b. The piston or plunger 87 has a pivot end 87a which receives pivot pin 86a in upper end 88a of lever 86 which can pivot at its lower end 88 in a vertical arc about pivot pin 89 connected to support 89a of the longitudinally extending side member 34. The cylinder 83 slidably receives the plunger 87 and is held in slidable connection therewith by pivot pin 87b. The pivotal cam section or element 74 has engagement with stop 78b mounted on the pivot pin support plate 82 to limit rotation of the arms 78 in the clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2.

With reference now to FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, the second cam track unit 52 is provided with a fixed final opening and second closing cam transversely extending section 90 having a final opening transverse cam surface 91 for engagement with the respective rollers of the drive lever 28 as the car moves in the door opening direction and having a second door closing cam surface 91a opposing the surface 91. The fixed cam section 90 is provided with hinge 91b pivotally receiving gate hinge 910 of opening cam gate or pivotal cam section 9 4, which gate hinge is held to hinge 91b by hinge pin 92. The opening cam gate or pivotal cam section 94 has a transverse gate surface 94a on one side thereof for engagement with the drive lever when it is moving in the door opening direction and has an initial door closing transverse cam surface on the other side thereof for engagement by the drive lever moving in the door closing direction. The opening cam gate section 94 has its gate diagonal end surface 96 engageable with the stop 940 on side member 32 to prevent movement of the gate section 94 when engaged by the drive lever in the door closing direction of the car. As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the hinge pin 92 carries a spring 93 on spring seat 93b and the spring has an upper arm 93a abutting spring stop 93c fixed on gate section 94 and has a lower arm 92a abutting a fixed support member 40.

As disclosed in the Shaver application, the drive lever of the crank means engages ground-mounted cam structure to rotate the drive lever and the crank structure thereby to open and/or close the hopper doors of the car. In the instant application, a specific cam means 30 is provided for acting upon the door operating crank mechanism to open the hopper doors in one direction when passing by the cam means 30 and to close the hopper doors when the crank mechanism passes by the cam means 30 in the opposite direction and, therefore, each cam track unit 50 and 52 acts in the opening direction to open the hopper doors and in the closing direction to close the hopper doors as indicated by arrows in FIGS. 8 and 9 and the position of the drive lever 28 of the crank means is shown in solid line and in dotted line for both opening and closing directions to illustrate the various positions the drive lever assumes in passing through the cam track means 30 in either direction. In FIG. 8, for instance, the opening direction of the car is seen whereby the lower roller 29 engages the initial cam surface 56 of the gate section 54 to begin rotation of the drive lever in a counterclockwise direction, said follower roller engaging the second cam element for further rotation and then engaging the cam idle surface 69. Next, as seen in FIG. 8, the lower roller is now in the upper position whereby the other roller engages the final opening cam surface 91 to place the formerly lower roller in the upright position with the other roller passing through opening cam gate 94. In FIG. 9 the vehicle is moving in the door closing direction and the lower roller of the drive lever is shown engaging initial closing cam surface 95 and then closing cam surface 91a rotating all the while and then the other roller moves to the lower position and engages cam surface 71 and then surface 73 of cam track section 72, then the roller hits surface 75 of the pivotal cam section 74 and then cam surface 76 forcing the cam section 74 toward the compressible spring assembly 84 for final positioning and closing of the hopper doors and then the other follower roller exits through pivotal gate 54. The pivotal cam section 74 insures that the hopper doors will be placed in the closed position. For complete closing or opening of the vehicle doors, the drive lever must rotate in the respective opening or closing direction.

As various changes could be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. Track right-of-way mounted railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism for engagement with the drive lever of a hopper car mounted door operating mechanism including:

longitudinally extending cam track means for engaging the drive lever of a door operating mechanism for the hopper car for opening and closing the hopper door of a railroad hopper car passing thereby,

said cam track means having transversely extending door opening cam surface means adapted to engage the drive lever of the door operating mechanism mounted on the car as the car moves towards the cam surface means in the door opening direction and having transversely extending door closing cam surface means opposite the door opening cam surface means and adapted to engage the drive lever as the car moves in the door closing direction, and

said cam track means having door opening and door closing terminal portions and pivotal cam track gate means extending transversely in the path of movement of the drive lever and being located at said terminal portions for passage of the drive lever therethrough and outwardly of the cam track means upon movement of the gate means by contact with the associated drive lever in both the door opening and closing directions of the car.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

said cam track means including a pivotally mounted door closing cam track and said door closing cam surface means including a closing cam track surface on said pivotal cam track engageable by said drive lever, and

biasing means for urging said pivotal cam track against the drive lever attendant to insure closing of the car hopper door,

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

the opening surface means being substantially in the opposite direction of car travel of closing surface means whereby the car hopper doors can open and close by reversing travel of the car with rotation of the drive lever in one direction or the opposite direction thereto.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and said cam track means comprising:

a first cam track structure and said opening and closing surface means having transversely extending drive lever engaging door opening and closing cam surfaces on said first cam track structure,

a second cam track structure and said opening and closing surface means having transversely extending drive lever engaging door opening and closing cam surfaces on said second cam track structure,

said cam track means including a pivotal final door closing cam track operable in the door closing direction of the car and said door closing cam surface means including a closing cam track surface on said pivotal cam track engageable by said drive lever, and

biasing means for urging said pivotal cam track against said drive lever attendant to insure final closing of the car hopper door.

5. The invention according to claim 4, and

said pivotal cam track closing cam surface having a first transverse surface and a final longitudinal surface.

6. The invention according to claim 1, and

each of said cam surface means presenting generally vertical surfaces.

7. Trackway ground-mounted railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism for railroad car hopper operating structure having a drive lever having open and closed hopper door positions and said mechanism including a pair of longitudinally spaced cam track structures for opening and closing the hopper doors of a railroad hopper car passing thereby,

said first cam track structure presenting transversely extending drive lever engaging door opening cam surfaces,

said second cam track structure presenting a final door opening transverse cam surface for engagement with the drive lever for final opening of the hopper doors and a cam track gate for passage of the drive lever therethrough in the opening moving direction of the railroad car,

said second cam track structure in the door closing moving direction of the hopper car presenting an initial closing car door cam surface engageable with the drive lever in the closing moving direction of the car,

said first cam track structure having an intermediate door closing cam surface and pivotal cam means presenting surface means for engagement with the drive lever for final closing of the door operating mechanism and a gate for passage of the drive lever therethrough in the car door closing direction.

8. The invention according to claim 7, and

each of said gates having biasing means for urging the gate to a closed position in one direction of movement of the drive lever for rotational reaction of the drive lever thereagainst and being openable against the biasing means in the opposite direction for passage of the drive lever thereby.

9. The invention according to claim 7, and

said pivotal cam means having yieldable biasing means urging the pivotal cam means against the drive lever in the closing moving direction of the latter to insure that the drive lever is in the final closed position.

10. The invention according to claim 9, and

said pivotal cam means being provided with a stop to limit the amount of pivoting in a direction opposite to the direction of force of the biasing means.

11. The invention according to claim 7, and

the closing surfaces of each cam track structure facing generally in the opposite direction to the opening surfaces of each cam track structure.

12. The invention according to claim 7, and

the opening cam surfaces of each cam track structure being approximately 180 in opposite direction to the closing carn surfaces of said each cam track structure.

13. Track right-of-way mounted railroad hopper car door actuating mechanism for operating a hopper door opening and closing reversibly rotatable lever including:

longitudinally extending cam track means for opening and closing the hopper door of a railroad hopper car passing thereby,

said cam track means having a first cam track structure having a first transversely extending elongated closing pivotal cam track gate and biased to open in the closing moving direction of the lever and having a first opening cam surface fixedly opposing longitudinal movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door opening direction,

a second transverse fixed cam track member being connected with said first cam track gate and having a second transverse opening earn surface generally in the plane of the first cam surface,

said second cam surface opposing longitudinal movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door opening direction,

said cam track means having a second cam track structure being spaced longitudinally of said first cam track structure and having a third transversely extending elongated cam track member having a third opening cam surface opposing movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door opening direction,

said second cam track structure having a second pivotal opening cam track gate pivotally connected with the third cam track member and biased to close in the opening direction and having a fourth opening cam surface opposing movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door opening direction,

said second cam track pivotal gate having a fourth closing cam surface opposing the second gate surface and opposing movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door closing direction,

said third cam member of said second structure having a fifth cam closing surface opposing the fourth opening cam surface and opposing movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door closing direction,

said first cam track structure having a fixed intermediate closing cam track member having closing surface opposing movement of the drive lever when the car is moving in the door closing direction,

said first cam track structure having a final closing cam track member pivotally connected with the intermediate closing cam track and biased to move to adjust the drive lever to the final closing position, and

said first cam track gate of said first structure operating as a pivotal gate for allowing passage of the drive lever thereby in the final step of door closing operation,

the door closing surfaces being in opposition to the door opening surfaces of each of the cam structures.

14. The invention according to claim 13, and

said gates being biased to close in one direction of the drive lever movement and being openable by the drive lever in the other direction of movement of the drive lever against biasing means.

15. The invention according to claim 13, and

the cam surfaces being generally transverse to the direction of travel of the drive lever and said final closing pivotal cam track member having an additional final closing surface which is generally parallel to the direction of the drive lever and transverse to the surface of the first cam closing gate.

16. The invention according to claim 13, and

said pivotal final closing cam track member being biased against movement of the drive lever and having stop means limiting the movement of the pivotal cam member in the direction opposite thereto.

17. The invention according to claim 13, and

the closing cam surfaces being generally 180 in opposition to the opening cam surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,471,044 10/1969 Aquino et al. 21463 3,515,076 6/1970 Aquino 21463X ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner 

